Hi folks,

I want to dive into Java Web Development, but I don’t know where to start because I am overwhelmed with Frameworks, JSRs, modules and the like.

Coming from a PHP and Ruby (on Rails) background, it may seem awkward to go the other way ’round—still there are a lot of places where Java is (and probably will be) prevalent. I know basic Java concepts, syntax and OOP, and I have done (too much) nonsense in existing projects in JSP. I am already using SVN and GIT, but like coding PHP and Ruby mostly via VIM, i’ve also done versioning from the command line.

But this time I want to learn to build a new project from the ground up, in a more, let’s say, academic way (instead of the hackery to date). Looking at e. g. Eclipse frightens me. Then there is Struts, Spring, JPA, Hibernate, Seam, just to throw in some buzzwords, that I cannot put into clear relation to each other.

Can you point me to some tutorials or books that could help me? What are the technologies you absolutely have to know, the JSRs that are widely implemented in the industry?

Or, if you are an employer: What does a “Junior Java Web developer” have to know?

Thanks for your suggestions!